Agricultural harvesting heads for harvesting non-row crops (i.e. row independent crops) such as wheat, oats, and other similar grass plants go back to the 19th century.
These harvesting heads typically comprise a reciprocating knife that extends across the width of the harvesting head.
In one arrangement, often called a “draper head” or just a “draper”, the crop material, once severed from the ground by the reciprocating knife, falls rearward onto endless belt conveyors. These conveyors, move laterally inward from both ends towards a central region of the agricultural harvesting head, whereupon the cut crop material is deposited on a central conveyor that carries the crop material rearward and into a feederhouse on the agricultural combine that supports the agricultural harvesting head.
In recent years, it has become increasingly important to determine with greater resolution the performance of crops in order to cultivate the soil more carefully, apply chemicals more sparingly, and increase yields.
In the past, the yield of a draper head was determined by measuring the quantity of clean grain leaving the cleaning shoe of the agricultural combine and carried upward into the grain tank (i.e. the storage tank).
Unfortunately, since this arrangement measures the crop yield as the crop (grain in this case) leaves the cleaning shoe of the combine harvester, it inherently averages the yield across the entire width of the draper head.
What is needed is a system for measuring the crop yield of a draper head that indicates the crop yield in several sections across the width of the draper head.
It is an object of this invention to provide such a system.